Russ Suddeth

Leader. Problem Solver. Organized. Family-Oriented. Giving.

As an owner and our Senior Vice President, Russ focuses on the day-to-day issues that keep the company on track to perform within the vision that he and John Sofarelli have created for a company that’s successful and decidedly different. He keeps the overall big picture in mind while he focuses on scheduling, safety, budgets, employees and client relationships.

Russ is our operations man. His strong leadership talents are best seen during meetings where he is able to bring all parties together to make decisions, create schedules, develop action lists, and keep people on task as things progress. “I’m a problem solver. There’s always a solution and it’s my job to find the one that is best for our client, fair to us and our subcontractors, timely and cost-effective. And, the best solution is obviously to try to identify potential issues before they arise and avoid them by being up front and pro-active.”

“His focus is always on getting it right the first time.”
– Tom Borgia, Controller, Risk Manager

Russ is personally involved in each company project from ground breaking through obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy, and his qualifications and achievements speak for themselves:

• Graduated in 1984 with high honors from the University of Florida with his B.S. in Building Construction from the Rinker School of Building Construction, College of Design, Construction, & Planning, a program that is one of the leaders in the nation in the construction field.
• Awarded academic scholarships from the Rinker Companies Foundation and The Gainesville Home Builders Association.
• Joined Tribble and Stephens Company as an Assistant Project Manager and within 5 years was promoted to Project Manager of the company, which was averaging 150 million dollars a year in volume at the time.
• Awarded “Project Manager of the Year” out of thirty candidates in six regional offices just 3 years after graduating college.
• State of Florida Certified General Contractor.
• Joined J. Raymond as a partner in 1989 and is now Senior Vice President responsible for all field and project management production, quality control, safety, scheduling, and policy. He works closely with all field personnel, both salaried and hourly, and handles estimating and project management duties as needed.

Russ and his wife, Julie, are very active members of St. Stephens Catholic Church. They reside with their two sons, Tyler and Trent, in Winter Springs.

“This industry is tough enough. John and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to create an environment that avoided adding unnecessary stress to those challenges, and I know our clients and employees are seeing huge benefits as a result of that philosophy.” We strive for better communications, planning, and training, with less confrontation, finger-pointing and confusion. This allows everyone to do their job without looking over their shoulder and have a good balance between work and life. In the end, everyone benefits.